Sadly, if that’s the only picture a seller is offering, I’d pass. You may lose out on a great watch at a great deal, but my (limited) experience tells me someone selling a genuine will get better pix to their prospective buyers.
There are really great trusted sellers here and on the Rolex forum. If you stick to buying from those sellers you will have no problems. I’m with you, in that I’d be ripe to buy a fake, as I’ve not been a student of watches for very long. Lots of scammers out there. It’s sad.
You know... another option is Chrono24. They have an escrow service which allows you to purchase a watch from one of their participating sellers and have time to inspect it upon receipt before your funds are released to the seller. At least you could have someone knowledgeable look it over and be sure it’s what you want before your money is gone forever.
Two things . 1 due diligence. Find your experts and don’t shy away from asking questions. People will help of you have the right attitude and specially if you participate in a general sense. 2 whenever possible ensure seller accepts a return for misrepresentation or non authentic items and a period for review by an expert. Specially on high value items. Somethings it is not possible or reasonable ( like on international private sales) but just having the conversation with seller will give you a sense of who the guy is. Whenever possible as a buyer and seller I try to engage on a phone conversation. It tells a lot.
If you have concerns bobswatches.com is well respected but they are a dealer so you pay for a well respected dealer. Pros and cons.
How to spot a fake? Easy. It just doesn’t look right. Pictured below is a really bad fake Mad Dog... NOTE: The really bad fake Mad Dog pictured above is our youngest, Maxwell.
Just give it time. He is wearing two watches already. Soon he'll be in the same league as his old man.